


7x08: Gates of Burning Adamant

by OsleyaKomWonkru



Series: OsleyaKomWonkru's Season 7 of The 100 [8]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Betrayal, Danger, Earth Flashbacks, Episode: s06e13 The Blood of Sanctum, Gen, Post-Episode: s06e13 The Blood of Sanctum, Rescue Missions, Sensate Cluster(s), Temporal Anomaly, The 100 (TV) Season 7 Speculation, The Anomaly - Freeform, time dilation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22928017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OsleyaKomWonkru/pseuds/OsleyaKomWonkru
Summary: With time running out, Octavia’s team makes their move to rescue Diyoza from Cadogan. But everything is not as it seems, and a betrayal leads to devastating consequences that could shatter the foundations of their universe.16 weeks. 16 episodes. An entire fan-created speculative version of season 7. Each episode will have four chapters, posted once per day from Tuesday to Friday.
Relationships: Becca & Bill Cadogan, Bellamy Blake & Hope Diyoza, Bellamy Blake & Octavia Blake, Octavia Blake & Charmaine Diyoza, Octavia Blake & Hope Diyoza
Series: OsleyaKomWonkru's Season 7 of The 100 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595290
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Episode 8! [Read Episodes 1-7](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595290) here if you need to get caught up!
> 
> The title of this episode is from the epic poem _Paradise Lost_ by John Milton.

**_PLANET ALPHA (GAIA) - GABRIEL’S CAMP - AFTERNOON_ **

Half-covered in quicksand as they were, Bellamy and Hope made their way to Gabriel’s camp, the forest quiet all around them save for the faint sounds of the new generations of insects hatching from their eggs.

“Murphy?” Bellamy called out as they neared the camp, which looked abandoned. “Murphy, you here? Miller?”

“Miller’s not here.” Murphy said, strolling out of one of the tents with a coil of rope over his shoulder. “Oh good, you’re both alive.”

“We are. No thanks to you.” Bellamy said.

“Easy.” Hope said. “It’s over and we’re all here. Let it go.”

“I recommend listening to the kid.”

“Hey.” Hope protested. “I’m not a kid.”

“Easy.” Bellamy echoed her words back to her. “We’ve all got a job to do.”

“Right.” Murphy said. “You two look for Miller. Bellamy, stay close to Hope when you’re near the Anomaly. Otherwise you might find yourself going in. Can I trust you two to get along to accomplish that?”

Hope and Bellamy exchanged small smiles. “Yeah. You can.” Hope said. “Bellamy says that was your plan to begin with. A plan that Octavia gave Raven to give to you.”

“Well, Raven didn’t tell me to leave you in quicksand. But she did say that you had some things to work out, so when the quicksand happened, it seemed like a good way to do that. The eclipse wasn’t a part of the plan, but I see you survived that too.”

“We did. What did you do here?” Bellamy asked.

“I went underground with the Anomaly Stone.” Murphy said. “Or keystone, rather. Its proper name. That’s what she told me.”

“You’re connected.” Hope said slowly. “You did it? You took Octavia’s blood?”

“I did.” Murphy confirmed. “Raven gave me a syringe before I left. It felt like the right time.”

“What about us?” Hope asked. “Can we? Did you save enough for us?”

Murphy shook his head. “Not yet. Octavia said she’d bring you back in personally, remember? But she is proud of you. Of both of you. She does want you to join her in Omphalos soon.”

“Does she have my mother?”

“She will. They’re doing that today. Once I get word that your mother is safe, that’s when it will be time for you to go.”

“Someone will need to stay here and maintain a tether.” Hope said. “I already have the tattoos, I can send you and Bellamy, but -”

“Apparently I’m getting some new tattoos.” Murphy said. “I need to stay. Go back to Sanctum and help Raven. Get more people on board with the tech because she is - and I quote - starting to get sick of being a radio. So you need to give me the tattoos. Do you have a kit?”

Hope nodded, hand going to a small pocket. “I have the most important part - that is, the ink we need, made from Omphalan graphite. The rest I’m sure will be here in Gabriel’s tent.”

“I guess we better get to work.”

**_SANCTUM - VILLAGE - AFTERNOON_ **

As the all-clear sounded for the red sun, Raven, Emori and the others made their way out of the caverns beneath Sanctum, taking the long and winding road back up the mountain with the Sanctum residents and the members of Wonkru.

It had been their first red sun, and while the reasons for evacuating weren’t immediately clear to them, it only took one person beginning to lose their mind as Emori had during their first red sun to realize what effects the eclipse could have, and with that, Wonkru ran their way to the underground caverns faster than anyone else.

While Raven had thought that they may have been uneasy about the prospect of going underground again, after their years in the bunker, the fear of repressed memories and feelings coming out won out over any fears of claustrophobia.

Once they made it back to the village, as one of the first up the stairs, Raven noticed a human figure in the middle of the square, rocking back and forth on the ground, hands over their ears.

“Did we leave anyone behind?” Emori asked as they ran towards them.

“Just… just Clarke.” Raven realized, recognizing the figure ahead of them, flashing back to Jackson who was further back in the group coming up the hill. “Jackson, move faster. It looks like Clarke woke up during the red sun.”

“Coming.” Jackson started sprinting alongside Raven, ready to take control of the situation through her if the need was there, but as Raven and Emori made it to her, she did appear to be physically all right, and could wait for him to arrive in the flesh.

“Clarke.” Raven whispered, crouching down next to her, trying to make sense of the mumbled words coming out of her mouth as she rocked back and forth. “Clarke. You’re okay. We’re here.”

Emori touched Clarke’s shoulder gently and she jumped, eyes flying open as she realized she was no longer alone.

“You came back.” Clarke said with wonder. “You came back. You didn’t leave me here.”

“We didn’t leave you here.” Raven said, squeezing one of Clarke’s hands between hers. “Well, I suppose we did and I’m sorry, but I - I guess we thought you’d be fine during the red sun. That you wouldn’t wake up yet. How do you feel?”

“Besides the red sun toxin? All right, I guess.”

“I’ll want to do a brain scan to make sure.” Jackson said as he jogged up. “But if you woke up on your own, that tells me that your brain is probably feeling better. That you’ve healed what needed healing.”

“Yeah, I -” Clarke stopped, realizing that what she was about to say about Octavia and the pill that she took in her mindspace would sound insane to them. 

“Octavia gave you something to help.” Jackson offered. “We know.”

Clarke frowned in confusion. “How could you know that?”

“It’s a long story.” Raven said. “But we’ve been busy. So has she.”

“Madi?”

“She’s fine. She’s connected, but I’m still growing that connection with her. Octavia?”

Octavia appeared by Raven’s side, bringing Madi with her, helping that connection along.

“Clarke!” Madi exclaimed, but frowning when she didn’t react. “Can she not hear me?”

“You need to focus on one of ours first.” Octavia said. “If you want Clarke to be able to hear you, you need to focus your connection with Raven or Jackson, so that they let you in and you can talk through them.”

Madi closed her eyes to concentrate, and that connection sparked through to Jackson first, and it was through him that Clarke heard Madi’s exclamation.

“Clarke, I can’t wait until they tell you about everything that’s happened. It’s so incredible, there’s so much - Bekka Pramheda - I can’t even describe it. But there’s so much to learn.” She turned to Octavia, Jackson turning along with her. “We can bring Clarke in, right?”

“After the mind drive has been removed from her head.” Octavia told her.

“But Jackson can do that now, can’t he?”

Clarke looked supremely confused, not hearing Octavia’s side of the conversation. “But you’re Jackson.”

“He’s not Jackson right now.” Emori said. “You’re talking to Madi.”

_“What?”_

“Let’s go get that brain scan taken care of.” Raven said, helping Clarke to her feet. “Once Clarke’s been given the all clear, then we drop this avalanche of developments on her, not before, are we clear?”

**_OMPHALOS - OCTAVIA’S LAB - AFTERNOON_ **

“Let’s go and let Clarke get checked out, okay?” Octavia said, pulling Madi back to her lab with her. “Once she’s cleared, then you can go back to talk to her. We’ve got work to do here until that time.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

“The signs look good. But let’s wait until Jackson does that brain scan, and it’ll go faster if we’re not in his head.”

“Okay.” Madi pouted. “So what do we need to work on here?”

“It’s time to go for Diyoza.” Octavia said, waiting for everyone to assemble around the table. “We know where she’s being held. But the trick will be getting in. Thankfully, Raven, you’ll be able to help with that.”

Raven popped into the lab. “I assume you mean hacking of some sort of computers.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll need access to the Omphalos systems to be able to do that.”

“Not a problem. Once everything’s in order, Niylah and Madi, you’re going to go to one of our safehouses in the city, a safehouse that has the wired access into the grid that Raven will need. It will be your jobs to let Raven into those systems. Ash, Gaia and I will go for Diyoza.”

A loud alarm started blaring before Octavia could continue. She ran over to the security feeds, checking the vicinity of the lab door. Something had tripped one of the alarms.

“It’s - it’s Miller.” Octavia said, recognizing the figure that materialized on the screen. “He came back.”

“Careful.” Ash cautioned. “He wasn’t happy when he left. If he didn’t go through the Anomaly, we don’t know where he was or who he met with.”

“I know.” Octavia said. “I know he may have talked, I know he may have others waiting around the perimeter to come for us. But I will not let fear control us. Caution, yes, but not fear. I’ll notify some of my people, ask them to check the area for others. We let him in, you check him for anything suspicious. Then either he takes the tech or we personally escort him to the Anomaly and make sure he goes through.”

“What if he tries to inject you with something? This purge that you talked about? That would clear the tech from your veins and take down the whole network as a result?” Niylah asked.

Octavia exchanged a knowing look with Ash. “He won’t get that close.” Octavia said. “And the rest of you are safe, because you’re not connected to many people yet. He’d know to come for me.”

Octavia turned aside, talking to some of her people aboveground, sending them out to survey the forest. Then she took out a fresh syringe, slipping it into one of her own veins to draw out some blood, and set it aside, ready for Miller.

Ash and Gaia kept watch on the monitors, watching and waiting to see if others appeared in the clearing, or if Miller got bored and decided to leave, but he appeared to be adamant about staying, sitting down next to a tree and watching for the trapdoor to open.

After the all clear was given with regards to the forest, Octavia finally approached the code panel to open the trapdoor, Ash close behind her.

“Any wrong moves, and I’ll take him down.” Ash said. “Non-lethally, of course.”

“Of course.” Octavia nodded, pressing the buttons and making her way up the ladder with Ash, the others staying back.

Octavia and Ash emerged into the clearing as Miller was getting back to his feet.

“I’m sorry.” Miller said, holding his hands out to his sides, showing he was unarmed. “I’m sorry that I left. I… I needed to work some stuff out.”

“I know this isn’t easy to accept or understand.” Octavia said, keeping a healthy distance as Ash approached him. “You’ve had us all worried. People have been looking for you on Planet Alpha. Jackson’s been worried.”

“He doesn’t need to worry.” Miller said. “I’m here. I’m back.”

Miller let Ash pat him down, checking all of his pockets and folds in his clothing for anything suspicious, be it medical or technical. But he appeared to be clean.

“You understand that if you come back into my lab, that means you’ve decided to take the tech.” Octavia said. “That’s the understanding. Otherwise we will escort you to the Anomaly right now and send you back to Sanctum.”

“I understand. I’m ready.”

“Then welcome.”

Ash escorted Miller down the ladder, and Octavia followed them, sealing the trapdoor tight. Miller sat down on a stool by a worktable, rolling up his sleeve.

“Is he coming with us?” Gaia asked as Octavia picked up the syringe.

“One thing at a time.” Octavia said. “If he can go through his mindspace quickly, then yes. If not, then he will stay here while we go. Then hopefully he’ll be done with it by the time that we rescue Diyoza, and Hope and Bellamy join us.”

“Mindspace?” Miller asked as Octavia injected him with her blood.

“Where you face yourself. Your hidden pain, repressed memories, fears. Things like that. We’ve all done it.”

“Perfect, just what we need.”

“We do need it. _You_ need it. It is the first step to letting go of all of the pain that you carry.”

Miller’s arm twitched as Octavia withdrew the needle, the twitch spreading to become a full body convulsion. “What’s happening to me?”

“It’s okay.” Octavia reassured him. “Sometimes if people are a bit tense, it can manifest like this as the tech tries to move through veins that are a bit constricted. That’s why you need to relax.”

“Relax. Right.” Miller said, eyes darting around to all of them. “How do I do that?”

“Go to the bedroom. Lie down, take some deep breaths.” Octavia looked off to the side, concentrating, in deep conversation of some kind with someone, nodding at the end of it. “Go. It’ll come to you.”

Miller made his way to the bedroom, clenching and unclenching his fists, waiting for the conflicting tech to collide, waiting for it to disappear into nothingness, as Cadogan had promised.

But nothing happened. Whatever injection Cadogan had given him wasn’t doing anything. All he could feel were the particles of Octavia’s tech binding themselves to particles in his blood - what they were supposed to do, yes, but not what Cadogan had promised him.

Cadogan had told him that he had a way to purge the tech, which had to happen in one of two ways - either he needed to give it to Octavia directly, or it already needed to be in place in someone’s veins before they took it. But he must have calculated something wrong, because it wasn’t working.

Miller passed through the bedroom to the bathroom, closing the door behind him and hoping Octavia didn’t have a camera in there. He pulled out the communication device that he’d swiped from the top of a worktable on his way to the bedroom, punching in the functions that Cadogan had instructed him on before releasing him.

_M: I’m in, but it isn’t working. I’m getting connected to this damn network._

_B: That’s unfortunate. I was so sure it would work._

_M: So what now?_

_B: The kill code is ‘ego sola’. Say that and you’ll be booted out of it._

_M: Good. You might want to know - they’re coming for Diyoza today._

_B: I expected they would. We’ll be ready for them._

_M: Another thing. Octavia said that after they rescue Diyoza, that Hope and Bellamy will be coming through the Anomaly to join them._

_B: Good to know. Thank you, Nathan. You’ll be rewarded when this war is over. Now stay out of the rescue mission, and wait for further instruction._

_M: Will do._

**_226 YEARS AGO BY TERRAN TIME_ **   
**_EARTH (TERRA) - SECOND DAWN RESEARCH CAMPUS - DAY_ **

After two years of breathing recycled air on a space station, Becca was pleased to be able to breathe real air again, as laden with radiation as it was. She knew the blood serum that she’d developed would protect her, as would the device in her neck.

“I’m here to help!” She called out to the figures in the radiation suits that she saw up ahead.

She had believed that landing by her brother’s research campus would be the best chance, because she knew he’d taken them underground there, and it would only make sense that the keystone to Omphalos was there too. She’d done the research on the land that her brother had bought for his cult - it had been untouched forest land twenty years earlier, remote as the Eastern seaboard of the United States went, and that sounded like the perfect place for an interplanetary wormhole to be located.

While she was sure there could be bunkers all over the world, where at least some remnants of humanity survived on Earth, as they did in space, this was the only one she knew of for certain, so it was the best chance. The best chance to find people who would listen to what she could bring them, and they could declare their independence from this _Omphalos_ place that she’d never known, and rebuild the world.

“I can prove to my brother that he was wrong.” Becca whispered to herself. “I can prove to him that I don’t need Omphalos’ _perfect knowledge_ to make humanity better. This can do that.”

The figures began to gather around her, not saying anything, and Becca started to feel uneasy. Before she could address them again, they parted, and another figure came up through the crowd to stand before her.

“Well well well.” Her brother said. “Look who has fallen out of the sky to save us. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

“I am here to help.” Becca repeated.

“Such optimism. But we don’t need your help. We’ve got a thriving underground city. Our people are quite happy there with the food we’re growing, and we salvage up here as needed.”

“You haven’t told them.” Becca said slowly.

“Told them what?” Cadogan asked, smile as open and pleasant as Becca remembered it - both back in her early years, when it was earnest in its wishes for her well-being, and when it hid the soul of a snake, that only wished to destroy everything she’d worked for.

“The truth.” Becca said.

“I can tell my people one truth if you like.” Cadogan said, turning to the crowd. “The bombs that destroyed the world, they were not launched because of politics or religion. I warned you that when the horsemen came, it would be technology. That it would be technology that destroyed the world. I told you that you couldn’t trust it, that it has been poisoning our minds. And I was right. Technology destroyed the world. Tell them, Rebecca. You tell them the truth.”

“I…”

“Oh go on. You were so proud of your creation. And I’m sure you’ve brought more, haven’t you? More _technology_ to save us from ourselves. But how about first you tell us the reason we need saving. That the reason we need saving is because of your technology that launched the bombs.”

Becca tracked the crowd and noticed them getting more agitated.

“Search the pod.” Cadogan demanded. “And take her to the deepest darkest dungeon we have, because that’s the only way we’ll be safe from her poison.”

“I’m here to help, Bill.” Becca shouted as some of his people seized her. “Please believe me!”

“If you wanted to help, you never would have created ALIE in the first place.” Cadogan said. “You’re a modern day witch, and there is no place for you in this new world that we’re building. No place in this society of believers that we have.”

“A society that doesn’t have to live underground!” Becca yelled as they dragged her away. “I can help you, you don’t have to live in that bunker anymore!”

As she was hauled into the bunker and down its many levels, Becca came to a horrifying realization:

Her brother had been very particular about his words regarding ALIE, saying she was the one who _created_ her, but not that she’d been responsible for _releasing_ ALIE.

This had all been a part of his plan. All of it.

It hadn’t been a glitch or a mistake that had let ALIE out of her cage. It had been her brother.


	2. Chapter 2

**_SANCTUM - LAB - AFTERNOON_ **

Jackson and Gabriel examined Clarke’s brain scans, and it appeared that the damage was beginning to heal. Her brain wasn’t perfect yet, but the important healing had taken place and they deemed it safe for Clarke to be awake.

“But if you start getting headaches, bleeding from the nose, seizures… anything like that… you let us know right away, okay Clarke?” Jackson said. “Anything unusual, you let me know.”

“I will. Now please, I need to know what happened to Madi, where she is, all of that.”

“She’s fine.” Raven said. “She’s on another planet called Omphalos. She’s with Octavia, Niylah, Gaia, Ash and Miller. Hope and Bellamy will be joining them later today.”

“On another planet? Is that what the Anomaly does?”

“Yes.” Jackson said.

“Who is Ash?”

“That’s the name Echo would like to be known by now.”

“Who is Hope?”

“Hope is Diyoza’s daughter. She came out of the Anomaly when they activated the Anomaly Stone.”

“How is that possible? Diyoza wasn’t even close to giving birth yet.”

“Time passes differently in Omphalos. Twenty years went by there in what was pretty much the blink of an eye here.”

“So wait, does that mean Madi is older than me? Or rather, it has been days here, hasn’t it? How could she still be alive? How could any of them?”

“Ever since Octavia returned from the Anomaly, Omphalos and Sanctum have been running at the same time.” Gabriel explained. “Octavia’s tattoo kept the timelines tethered. Then when she returned to Omphalos, Hope’s did. Now Murphy is going to do it, Hope’s tattooing him as we speak.”

“And how do you know that? Some sort of brain link?”

“Pretty much.” Raven said. “It’s an amazing technology that Octavia developed during the time she was in Omphalos. It isn’t a brain implant, rather it is something that binds to empathy receptors, heightening empathy and fostering connection between people who have it. We can be present with one another across worlds, use each other’s skills as needed, feel pain and joy and every other emotion you could think of. It’s beautiful.”

“And Madi took it?”

“She did. Gaia didn’t want to let her at first, but after they learned more about the history, learned why Octavia made it, and that Becca had sensed the tech when Octavia crossed back into Sanctum, and that she endorsed it too - they let her take it. If at any point she wants out, she can leave, but she’s happy right now.”

“Becca? She was active in the Flame?”

“To a point. Things could have been a lot worse had Becca not been protecting Madi. Sheidheda could have deleted Madi’s mind just like the Primes’ mind wiping fluid does. It is only thanks to Becca that he couldn’t.”

“Thank you, Becca.” Clarke whispered to herself. “So what now? What’s happening now?”

“We’re going home.” Jackson smiled. “As soon as they’ve stopped Cadogan in Omphalos, we’re -”

“Wait. Cadogan? The same Cadogan who built the Second Dawn Bunker?”

“Yes.” Raven nodded. “As it turns out, he’s Becca’s brother, and they were originally from Omphalos. Another hidden sister situation, where instead of Becca being hidden on the Ark, her brother took her to a whole new world. Our Earth. And that’s where we’re going to return.”

“But Earth is dead.”

“Not anymore. Octavia’s spent the past twenty years with a team that’s been restoring it. That’s what Omphalos does. But right now you don’t need to worry about that. Just rest while we hunt Sheidheda here, while Octavia’s team hunts Cadogan there, and soon we’re all going to be going home.”

“Home.” Clarke echoed. “I barely even know what that means anymore.”

“You’ll see.” Jackson said, squeezing Clarke’s shoulder. “We’re going to have real peace, Clarke. Octavia’s brought us that.”

“But only if she stops Cadogan.” Clarke said slowly, eyes widening as comprehension dawned on her. “But she can’t do it alone, can she? That’s why Bellamy’s going there.”

Raven nodded. “He’s the key. One brother to another. We just have to hope he’s learned the lessons he needed to with Hope. Murphy says it sounds like he has, but only time will tell.”

“What could Hope teach him?”

“Oh, that’s a long story.” Jackson said. “One probably best for them to tell. Come on, let’s get some food into you.”

**_OMPHALOS - FOREST - EVENING_ **

As night fell, Octavia led her team - save for Miller, who was still looking for his mindspace - out of her lab and through the forest towards the city. She acknowledged her scouts along the way, all of her connected network in Omphalos was out tonight, covering their way into the city, covering the safehouse where Niylah and Madi would gain computer access, making sure their road to Cadogan’s new mansion was clear.

Dr Warner and three others met them at the safehouse doors, ushering Niylah and Madi inside, as Octavia, Ash and Gaia continued on through the shadows towards Cadogan’s mansion. They were all adept at subterfuge and could make themselves as invisible as possible along the way.

As they continued their approach, Niylah and Madi settled into the safehouse, where Raven appeared to join them at the computers, about to take over for Niylah when she disappeared back to Sanctum for a moment.

“Madi?” Raven called, bringing Madi through to Sanctum with her. “We’ve explained everything to Clarke now, so if you want to talk to her, you can.”

Raven let Madi take her over, jumping up and giving Clarke a big hug.

“I’m so glad you’re better.” Madi whispered. “Don’t ever do that again. I was so worried after Octavia told me what happened.”

“I’ll be okay now, Madi.” Clarke said, a few tears springing to her eyes. “I’ll be all right. And you’ll be okay there too, right?”

“I’m looking out for her tonight.” Niylah said, appearing via Jackson.

“Who is I?”

“Niylah.” Niylah said. “Madi’s safe with me.”

Clarke nodded. “Good. I know you’ll protect her.”

_“Ai hod yu in, Klark.”_ Madi said, pulling back from the hug. “I have to go now, we’ve got work to do, but we’ll see each other soon. I promise.”

_“Ai hod yu in_ too, Madi. See you soon.”

Madi disappeared back to Omphalos, and Raven smiled at Clarke. “Octavia has shown us pictures from Earth. It’s incredible, I wouldn’t believe it was the same place if she hadn’t shown some familiar sights along the way.”

“It’s really back?”

“It is.”

“There’s one thing I don’t understand though. Octavia looks the same as she did before going into the Anomaly. But twenty years passed for her there?”

“She’s special.” Jackson said. “She’d been hit by a temporal flare here in the forest, and it had started rapidly aging her. She was almost dead of old age when she entered the Anomaly. Omphalos could reverse it, but the excess radiation in her blood made it such that it didn’t just reverse the process, but it keeps her in a stasis of sorts, like cryosleep, where she doesn’t age. So she may not look it, but she’s forty-three years old now.”

“Wow.” Clarke said. “Can I talk to her?”

“They’re on the mission to rescue Diyoza right now.” Raven said. “After that, I can ask her. But if you want to take the tech and join us, the mind drive needs to come out of your head first.”

“I’d still recommend against that for the time being.” Jackson said. “I want to monitor Clarke for a few days before we go back in for surgery.”

“Fair enough.” Clarke said.

“The others can tell you more if you need it. Octavia needs me for the mission now.” Raven said, turning towards the computers, and appearing in the Omphalan safehouse with Niylah and Madi.

“First step, we need the schematics of Cadogan’s mansion.” Raven said, taking command of the bank of computers through Niylah. “Does Omphalos have building plans posted somewhere online?”

“Should.” Dr Warner said, coming over to join them while the other Omphalans stood guard at the door. “All building plans need to be approved by the Council, so if you access the Council files - codes are right here, most of the Council has joined us - then you should be able to find the schematics.”

“On it.”

As she worked on the safehouse computer, Raven shifted through to where Octavia, Ash and Gaia were waiting in the shadows just a few blocks shy of Cadogan’s mansion.

“Hey. So while I can’t tell precisely where in this maze he might be holding Diyoza, I expect it will be in one of the more heavily fortified areas, expecting that you might try to come for her.” Raven said, eyes on the screen in front of her as she stood next to Octavia.

“Hold up. You’re here while you’re hacking Cadogan’s computer network in the safehouse?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah?”

“That means you’re in three places at once. Not even I’ve done that.”

“What can I say, I’m awesome.” Raven said.

“I’ll say.” Octavia said. “I’m glad you’ve joined us, Raven. I know the past few days have been the first time we’ve talked in years, but I can’t wait to see what kind of possibilities you can find with this tech that not even I’ve made use of.”

“If there’s something that hasn’t been explored yet, I’ll find it. But for now, it looks like your best approach would be through the forest on the far side of the building, there are tunnels in the woods, probably with guards and entrance codes, but we can take care of those. Then from there, you can skip half the maze and head straight up.”

“Everyone equipped with thermal sensors?” Octavia asked Ash and Gaia, communication between all of them and Raven now going through their minds rather than out loud. “We’ll need them to keep track of any human guards.”

“Thermal sensor drones are already in the air above the back forest.” Dr Warner said. “Raven’s right, there are three guards on the back tunnels. You’ve all got your tranquilizers with you?”

“They don’t even need to know we’re there.” Ash said, pulling out a long tube. “Just get me close enough and I can take them down at a distance.”

Octavia, Ash and Gaia made their way slowly through the forest, Gaia tracking the guards’ movements with a handheld thermal sensor, while Octavia watched what Dr Warner was observing on the monitors from the drones up above.

“Raven, how is it coming with the codes for the tunnels?” Octavia asked.

“Running a numbers program on each of them as we speak, but it isn’t giving us any results yet. I don’t know how long the codes could be, so it could take some time.”

“Try the date when ALIE ended the world.” Madi suggested, jumping in. “It was _him._ Cadogan did it. He let ALIE out.”

“Sorry, no, not right.”

“Becca’s birthday.” Octavia whispered, more to herself than anything, but the others all heard. “Either the date they arrived on Terra, or the Omphalan date of her birth. Try those.”

“Got it.” Raven said. “The Omphalan one, for the record. Which means that Cadogan probably considers this his true home, not Earth. If you need that insight.”

“Could come in handy later.” They’d almost made it to the tunnels. “Ash, _now.”_

Ash moved quickly, sending blowdarts into all three of the guards before they even realized the others were dropping. Once they were down, the three women dragged their unconscious bodies further into the forest. They’d be out for hours.

Gaia spotted the tunnel that had unlocked and eased the door open. Octavia pointed her thermal scanner inside and registered no living creatures in range, and they slowly made their way inside, staying close behind Octavia.

“Door coming up in fifty feet.” Raven whispered in her ear. “You’re under the main compound now.”

“Any indication as to what kind of locks?” Gaia asked. “There’s nothing glowing up ahead, no sign of tech.”

“No.” Raven said. “Wait. Hold up.”

All of them froze in their tracks.

“There’s some sort of tech right in front of you.” Raven said, frowning at her monitors. “The system registers it, but I can’t… it can’t be hacked. What _is_ it?”

“We can’t see anything, Raven.” Ash hissed. “There’s nothing here.”

A light suddenly came on in the ceiling panel just a few paces ahead of them, illuminating… illuminating _what?_ Octavia frowned, motioning for Gaia and Ash to get further back.

As if looking through a haze at first, Octavia finally saw what was in front of her - Hope sprawled on the ground, no signs of life of any kind.

“No.” Octavia whispered, fear gripping her heart as she backed up, shoving Ash and Gaia back down the hall. “Can’t be. It can’t. Murphy!”

Murphy appeared next to her, expression trying to suppress some amount of pain. “What? A little busy right now.”

“Is Hope with you?”

“Of course. She’s giving me the tattoo right now. What’s this about?”

“So that’s not her in front of me right now?”

Murphy looked closely. “While I don’t disagree that it looks like her, it can’t be her. Hope is right here. She’s perfectly safe.” He turned his head to the side. “Hold up a minute. Yeah, the mansion has some weird security system.” He listened. “Okay, I’ll try it.”

He turned back to Octavia, who, despite Murphy’s reassurances, was still frozen in terror at the apparent sight of Hope dead in front of her.

“It’s not real, Octavia. It’s not real.” He gripped her arm and tried to take her with him to Gabriel’s camp, but she wouldn’t budge. “Octavia. Move with me here. You can see her and know she’s fine. She’s _fine.”_

Still Octavia wouldn’t shift, as if the fear paralyzed her ability to choose her surroundings, paralyzed her ability to visit others.

Still keeping his hold on Octavia, Murphy looked past her to Ash. “What are you seeing?”

“My mother on fire in our cellar.” Ash whispered, fear evident in her voice as well. “The day I got this name.”

“Okay, okay, before all of you freak out, let someone else take over, all right? Whatever this tech is, it must be responding to the worst fears of the body in front of them. Like the way red sun toxin can infect our minds. But we can shift minds, right? Let someone else in and you can get past.”

Niylah appeared by Octavia’s side, taking her hand in reassurance. “Let me in, _Okteivia.”_ She said softly. “I can get by this fear for you.”

Murphy moved over to help Ash, and Jackson came to help Gaia, and together with a fair amount of coaxing they moved them past the fear tech and to the door that Raven was talking about. Murphy pulled out Ash’s lockpicks to work on the manual lock, but a large burly man that he didn’t recognize appeared and yanked the door open, shattering the doorframe.

“No time.” He said, before vanishing again.

“Who the hell was that?” Murphy asked.

“That’s Anton.” Octavia said, coming back to herself and cracking a small smile. “He lives on Pachamama. Not a big talker, but he’s strong. He’s also right. Cadogan knows we’re here by now. We have to move.”

Octavia cast a glance back down the hallway behind them, but whatever it was that took on different forms depending on who was looking at it was gone.

“What the hell was that, Raven?” Ash asked.

“Murphy’s right. It is some sort of nanobot tech that makes use of red sun toxin. The tech is similar to what we have inside us, which is why it can’t be hacked, because it doesn’t have a central nervous system, as it were. Just millions of tiny little parts and trying to hack each one individually would be impossible.”

“Red sun toxin.” Gaia said. “Does that mean they’re on Sanctum? That they’re a threat to our people?”

“The toxin has been researched here for years, there’s samples of it everywhere. It wouldn’t be difficult for Cadogan to get his hands on some of it.” Octavia said. “As far as if they’re currently a threat to our people, Murphy, keep eyes and ears sharp, since you’re by the Anomaly right now. Raven, take us to the goal here.”

“I can’t say which room Diyoza is in, but take the stairs at the end of the hall ahead of you, and somewhere on the third floor are the most fortified spaces.”

“Fortified how?” Ash asked.

“Strong reinforced walls and doors. Anton won’t be able to break through them, not like that door he just busted.”

“Are there cameras anywhere?” Octavia asked. “Anything that tells us how people are moving?”

“No. That’s the strange thing. The camera system exists, but all of the cameras have been disconnected for… two days. That’s the last point of record here.”

“He would have expected that we’d come.” Octavia said carefully. “But why would he make it harder for himself to find us when we did?”

“What happened two days ago?” Ash asked. “Maybe he doesn’t care anymore if we get Diyoza because he already believes he has what he wants.”

“What if he moved her?” Gaia asked. “What if we’re in the wrong place?”

“No, our people have been watching ever since he took Diyoza out of our home six days ago. If she was moved, we’d know.” Octavia said. “But two days ago… we’ve been underground. Dr Warner? Dr Damo? Shed any light?”

“Two days ago a stranger was found in the main square.” Dr Damo said, appearing next to Octavia. “We didn’t get a name before Cadogan took him away.”

“Miller.” Ash said. “Had to be.”

“But he came back. He took the tech. No tricks.” Octavia said.

“Are we sure about that?” Ash said. “Can you connect to him?”

“No.” Octavia said faintly, closing her eyes in concentration. “I can’t. Jackson?”

“I think of Nate, but I feel nothing that draws me to him in the network. He’s not one of us.”

“I put the tech in his veins myself.” Octavia said. “And he doesn’t know the kill code.”

“Unless Cadogan does, and told it to him. But how would it benefit him to slip Miller into your lab?” Ash asked. “Are there secret files there that could be of use to him?”

“No, there’s nothing that Cadogan wouldn’t already know. Just the location of the lab itself, and if Miller told him that, that’s not of any use except to ambush us, which they didn’t do.”

“What if it was Miller himself?” Raven asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You said Cadogan has been trying to purge the tech. What if he already gave Miller something that should do that once he connected?”

“It failed, whatever it was, if he did. We’re all still connected.”

“So how long until Cadogan finds out?” Raven said. “I recommend you move so that you’re not still there when he does.”


	3. Chapter 3

**_226 YEARS AGO BY TERRAN TIME_ **   
**_EARTH (TERRA) - SECOND DAWN BUNKER - AFTERNOON_ **

No sun. No moon. No life.

Becca didn’t understand how her brother’s followers could be _happy_ here, like he claimed they were, in this underground prison. Admittedly, they weren’t imprisoned in one room without even a single light to speak of like she was, but still, she couldn’t imagine why they would be content with that if other options existed.

Even more bizarre was that her brother hadn’t taken them to Omphalos like he’d told her he would. She’d expected to see people, landing where she did, but she’d thought that they would be from Omphalos, people who she could meet as the long-lost daughter of Omphalos, and help them bring change to the way they did things. That they had a way besides relying on some central planet to dictate everything.

That they could be free. But her brother didn’t want them to be free.

Becca contemplated the thought that her brother had released ALIE. It made sense. How else would he have known to call her immediately after the bombs were released? 

She’d ignored what had been in front of her the entire time. Bill was too embroiled in his distaste for technology, his distaste for making this world better without the so-called _perfection_ that Omphalos allegedly had, even if it wasn’t a world he’d seen since he was a teenager.

Becca remembered when it all started. She’d just been a little girl, going to the Dawn of New Hope Church with her brother. It wasn’t a superstition they believed in, Bill had made clear. But it was where they’d met the people who gave them a start when they’d arrived in Baltimore, and he went there to honour them more than anything.

Bill had met another young man with aspirations to rise above his circumstances, and in the beginning, it seemed as if they’d be inseparable. Bill had even invested some of their money in his friend’s life, helping him and his wife go on to advanced degrees in university while also raising a baby daughter.

Becca didn’t know precisely when everything had gone wrong, but it had been around the time of her thirteenth birthday and when she’d found out the truth of their origins. She knew even less about precisely _what_ their falling out was about, but while Bill had turned back to the church from which he then created his own cult based on faith and a mistrust of technology (and privately at home, a growing reverence for the world they’d left behind), Russell and his wife Simone had founded the Eligius Corporation. Years later, with Becca’s help, they’d departed for a new world.

Russell and Simone had offered her a place on the mission as well, but Becca had turned them down. She knew that different worlds existed, she didn’t need to see them. She was determined to save _this_ world.

They had found their new world, though. The message had been brief, received only on the secure encrypted channel of her space station. It told her that they’d found a beautiful planet that they’d believed untouched - until they’d found the ruins of a city on a mountaintop.

Russell’s message asked her to respond, to ask if she knew anything about this - while Bill hadn’t gone so far as to tell Russell everything, it seemed that he’d inferred enough about other worlds that Russell was inclined to believe him with this proof now in front of him.

Becca sent back a message with everything she knew, but if they received it, she didn’t know, for they never responded. It was possible they were dead too now, given what Bill had said about the fact that Gaia was a planet still healing from its last human inhabitants.

She had to hope that at least some of the mission teams had survived, surely they all hadn’t gone to worlds in healing. Surely some had found living civilizations.

Who could know, perhaps one of them had landed on Omphalos itself. Wouldn’t that be an interesting encounter.

Becca heard a scuffle outside the door of her prison, the first sound she’d heard in a long time that hadn’t been of her own making. She’d been locked up with enough food and water to last for weeks, and she didn’t know even how many days had passed.

A light came on first, almost blinding her, and then the door opened, her brother stepping inside, closing the door behind him.

“What do you want?” Becca demanded to know.

“A man can’t come to visit his little sister in prison?”

“You put me in this prison.”

“Wrong. You put yourself here. My people want your head for what you did to the world. I’m just trying to protect you.”

“I didn’t release ALIE.”

“That’s true. You didn’t.”

“It was you, wasn’t it? You released her somehow.”

“I did. This world needed to be cleansed.”

“Why?”

“To give it a new chance. So it wouldn’t take as long to restore as other planets have.”

“But you haven’t started restoring it. You said you were taking your people back to Omphalos, but you haven’t done that. Why not?”

“It’s not that simple, Rebecca.”

“You like being in control. What a shocker. You want them reliant on you and only you.”

“We’re not so different, you and I, are we? You think technology has all of the answers. You want people to rely on you and what your technology can do for them.”

“I want people to rely on _themselves,_ with the help of technology. That’s very different.”

“Where is the tech, Rebecca? You must have brought it with you. My people have searched every inch of your pod, but they haven’t found it. Where did you hide it?”

Becca stayed silent.

“Has it already infected our computer systems here? Is that what it’s done?”

Becca said nothing.

“Where is it, little sister?”

Becca felt the reassuring presence of ALIE 2.0 in her mind, knowing it was in a place that was safe. She’d picked out the stitches on her own, days ago, in the dark. The insertion site was healing, her hair was loose, there was no way for her brother to see it easily.

Cadogan sighed. “If you want to know why I didn’t leave for Omphalos immediately, I - I still care about you, Rebecca. I thought I could leave, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to leave this world while you were still here, even if in orbit. We heard the transmissions from the space stations, you know. We knew that people survived up there. _I_ knew that you were still working on your technology to save the human race.

“So I waited. I waited for you to return, so that I could give you one last chance to repent for what you’ve done. Will you repent, Rebecca Cadogan, forsake your murderous technology, and be cleansed? Be cleansed, and join us?”

“My name is Becca Franco. And no.”

“Then you will die.”

Becca wanted to scream, to appeal to the big brother of her childhood that she knew had to be in there somewhere, but ALIE 2.0 cautioned her, asking her to stay calm, encouraging her to take a different approach.

_Your body will die, but your mind will live on,_ ALIE 2.0 reminded her.

Becca composed herself, and looked up at her brother, a serene sorrow etched on her features. “Then you will spend the rest of your life regretting that. I’ve made mistakes, that’s true. But I’ve come to make penance for them, as one day you will for what you’ve done. When that day will come I do not know, but it will. A day when you’ll have all of the mistakes of your past laid out before you, and you’ll have a choice - break the cycle of the past or repeat it. I hope you’ll make the right choice, big brother.”

**_OMPHALOS - CADOGAN’S MANSION - NIGHT_ **

Octavia, Ash and Gaia raced down the hall towards the stairs, putting down three human guards along the way with Ash’s paralytic blowdarts. Octavia led the way up the stairs, where Raven had already hacked the keypad, letting them into the fortified hallway without issue.

What a hallway it was.

“Is this some game he’s playing with us?” Ash asked as she stared into the bizarre space covered in mirrors. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Something from Earth before the bombs.” Octavia said. “I saw it in a movie once. There used to be these parks for amusement, and one of those activities was a house of mirrors. You had to figure out how to navigate through it like a maze.”

“Was it some sort of training exercise?” Gaia asked. “For warriors to learn how to fight among distractions?”

“No, just fun for civilians.”

“What a strange world that was.”

“This isn’t in the floor plans.” Raven said, appearing next to them. “This is just supposed to be a regular hallway with sixteen fortified doors leading to fortified cells.”

“Well it’s not.” Octavia said. “The doors must be here somewhere, to be certain, they just might be harder to find. But they’re at regular angles?”

“Yes. Each of the doors has code locks, working on the first one now, so find that door and get into position.” Raven paused for a moment, looking at her computer screen, then looking back at them. “I’d also recommend going to masks. There’s some weird ventilation and piping going into some of these rooms.”

“On it.” All three of them pulled gas masks out of their packs and slipped them on.

“We move through like any other series of rooms.” Ash said, her military training coming to the forefront. “Stay on three sides of each turn - one person goes around a wall, one in the middle, one on the other side of it, until the next turn is found. When we find a door, either Gaia or I will open it, Octavia, because of your special condition, you get to look inside.”

Octavia and Gaia nodded in agreement, and they moved out, with Octavia in the lead, her Taser in hand.

**_PLANET ALPHA (GAIA) - GABRIEL’S CAMP - NIGHT_ **

“There.” Hope said, marking the last line of the tattoo on Murphy’s arm. “We’re done the tattoo.”

“Finally.” Murphy said, observing the line of symbols. “How many hours did it take for Octavia to get hers?”

“You’ve seen it?” Hope asked.

“Yeah. Intricate detailed stuff. She must have the symbols for all of the keystones for all of the worlds that are out there, doesn’t she?”

“She does. But those weren’t done by needle like yours were.” Hope said. “We do have tattooing machines in Omphalos. Makes the whole process much faster.”

“How many worlds are there?”

Hope shrugged. “I’m not sure. There are always a few in a state of recovery, so we don’t need to go there, since there are no people. But now when people do go there, they’ll have the benefit of our tech from the start. Not like Omphalos used to do it.”

“How many have you seen?”

“About a dozen or so.” Hope smiled wistfully. “Ki is my favourite. I miss her.”

“I’m confused. Is Ki a person or a planet?”

“Ki is the planet. Inanna is the person.”

“Right.” Murphy nodded. “Well, when you cross back into Omphalos, Octavia will connect you again, you know that, right? So you’ll see this Inanna again.”

“I know. It’s just been hard. But I understand the lesson that _ani_ had to teach me.”

“So now there’s nothing to do but wait until they’ve got your mother and then you can go.”

“Not quite. We need to take you to the Anomaly first.”

“Come again?”

“We’ve never given a tattoo on the non-Omphalan side before. Normal process for attuning a tattoo to the world’s keystone would be just to chuck you through the portal to that world. This one’s a bit different because of the Anomaly. Don’t worry, we’re not going all the way in.”

“How are we going to know if it is far enough?”

“Trust me, we’ll know.”

Hope and Murphy left the tent, finding Bellamy on the edge of the camp where he was keeping watch.

“Any invaders?” Murphy asked him.

“No. Been watching the Anomaly the whole time, and nothing. Are they done? Are we leaving?”

“Not quite.” Hope said. “We need to take Murphy to the Anomaly, so we can attune his tattoo. After that, we await word from _ani_ before we go through.”

“All right, let’s go.”

“Bellamy, you have to be careful, all right?” Hope said. “Do exactly what I tell you, no more, no less. Otherwise the Anomaly could pull you in without you even realizing it, and it isn’t time yet.”

“I get it. Let’s go.”

“What, no warning for me? I’m hurt.” Murphy chuckled.

“You’ve got the tattoo. I’m not worried about you. It should provide some measure of protection against the Anomaly’s effects.”

Hope led the way to the Anomaly, the darkness making it even brighter and more vivid than during the day.

Despite knowing about the visions that the Anomaly could induce, Bellamy found them difficult to resist as he followed along behind Hope. He heard his sister’s voice echoing all around him, saw flashes of her out of the corner of his eye, but any time he turned to face her, she’d vanish.

He wondered if it was some sort of metaphor for how their relationship had been for the past years.

They made their way into the clearing before the Anomaly, its humming vortex directly ahead of them. Even though Bellamy knew what it was, what it did, it didn’t make it any less awe-inspiring.

“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.” Bellamy quoted. “Our prison strong, this huge convex of Fire, outrageous to devour, immures us round ninefold, and gates of burning adamant barr’d over us prohibit all egress.”

“Gabriel said the same thing when he brought my mother and _ani_ here.” Hope said. “But the road is open now. The mystery is gone. I fear it might have been more mundane than he expected.”

“It’s incredible.” Bellamy whispered, stepping past Hope, but she pulled him back.

“Bellamy, what did I tell you?” Hope demanded. “Stay back. Don’t make me tie you to a tree.”

Bellamy wasn’t listening to her. “So my sister is just on the other side of that?”

“Yes, but - but it’s not that simple.” Hope grabbed him by the wrist as he tried to pass her again and Murphy helped haul him over to a tree.

They hadn’t brought any rope with them - a mistake in hindsight, Hope realized - so she had Murphy hold Bellamy back while she looped the chain out of her hair, fixing one end around Bellamy’s wrist, and the other around a tree branch. It would have to do, she only needed to take Murphy into the Anomaly for a minute, and for the moment, Bellamy seemed more interested in staring at the Anomaly than trying to untie himself.

“Let’s move fast.” Hope hissed to Murphy.

Once they got to the edge of the Anomaly, Hope took Murphy’s hand, holding it so that she could see the tattoo on his arm, and they moved in slowly, Hope guiding them through the first swirl of fire, both watching as the fresh tattoo shimmered from black to green and back again.

“There.” Hope said. “You’re attuned. Now let’s get you back before Bellamy gets loose.”

They ran back towards the clearing on the edge of the Anomaly, passing into it with a sigh of relief.

“You might pass out for a bit.” Hope said to Murphy between gasps for breath. “It’s normal. We’ll haul you back to Gabriel’s -” Hope saw Bellamy running straight towards them. “Bellamy, no!”

Murphy tried to move to tackle him, but as Hope had warned him, the Anomaly differential hit him and he collapsed to the ground in front of Bellamy, causing the other man to trip over him.

Hope moved to intercept, sitting on Bellamy’s back as she checked on Murphy, who seemed to be uninjured, just asleep.

“Get off me!” Bellamy snarled. “Octavia needs me!”

“She will. But not yet.”

“You’re wrong. She needs me now.”

“Bellamy, it is the Anomaly playing with your mind. You know this. I know you’re anxious to see her. I am too. But we need to wait until we get word that she’s rescued my mother.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, our signal bearer is unconscious. We’ll miss it.”

Hope wouldn’t budge, keeping an elbow in Bellamy’s back to keep him down, listening to him rant. Bellamy gave up after awhile, but she knew fighting tricks, and didn’t move from her position, not ceding any ground to him, as close as they were to the Anomaly.

That is, until the Anomaly started making a high-pitched hissing noise, and the ground began to vibrate, not from the Anomaly itself, but from the direction of Gabriel’s camp.

Hope could see the ground moving as the vibrations came closer, and her concentration slipped, giving Bellamy the opening he needed to flip her off and dive for the Anomaly.

“Dammit.” Hope muttered, and with one look back at Murphy, dove in after Bellamy, knowing that without her guidance he’d be completely lost on the other side.

**_OMPHALOS - CADOGAN’S MANSION - NIGHT_ **

They’d gone through twelve doors, to twelve different and bizarre rooms, as if it wasn’t a hall of mirrors but one of those haunted houses that Octavia had also seen in the movie. Strange gases, snarling animals, more tricks of the mind… Octavia couldn’t imagine what purpose these served Cadogan in a home like this.

Unless he’d built it just to play with them and delay their passage. There was always that possibility. Which meant that speed was of the essence, even though none of their sentries mentioned any movement back in the direction of the mansion, because something about this just felt _wrong._

At the thirteenth door, Octavia waited impatiently while Raven’s code ran through the possibilities, and the door eased itself open a crack.

Gaia pulled it open the rest of the way, and Octavia was relieved to see Diyoza standing there, surprised expression on her face. Octavia held up her thermal scanner, to confirm that Diyoza was in fact human and not another type of tech, and she checked out.

“Octavia.” Diyoza said carefully. “You came back.”

“Of course I did. We don’t leave family behind.” Octavia went right up to her and pulled her into a tight hug, which Diyoza reciprocated. 

“Is Hope okay?” Diyoza asked as she pulled back. “Please tell me she’s okay.”

“She’s good.” Octavia said. “Been raising all sorts of hell in Sanctum.”

“That’s my girl. Can I talk to her?”

Octavia looked down. “No. I’m sorry. She’s not connected.”

Diyoza’s look turned serious. “What did she do?”

“She used the memory bead device on Bellamy and Indra. I disconnected her so that she and Bellamy would have to learn to work together. Which they have done. When we meet again, she’ll be welcomed back. She’s learned a lot in the past few days, and I’m so proud of her.”

“There are some lessons we all have to learn on our own.” Diyoza said. “You did the right thing. I’m sure she understands that.”

“She does. We’ll see her soon, don’t worry. We just need to get you out of here.”

“How many guards are there out there?”

“Not many. But the ones we saw are going to be out for hours. We don’t have to worry about them.”

“Obstacles getting here, besides the guards?”

“Digital keypad on a door that Raven cracked, a manual lock that Anton broke, some bizarre nanobot fear-inducing tech that everyone helped us get past. Then just outside we’ve got a hall of mirrors hiding a bunch of doors hiding weird stuff until we found the right one. Also all with digital keypads.”

Diyoza chewed on her bottom lip. “Too easy. We should expect more resistance on the way out.”

“Raven said the cameras were turned off two days ago. We suspect that Cadogan tried using Miller as a mole to kill the tech, but it failed. As long as we can get you out before Cadogan realizes that, then we shouldn’t face much resistance. So let’s go.”

“You know the man, Octavia. Do you really think he’d let us just waltz out of here before knowing for certain it would work? If he’s not here, that means he’s somewhere else, and I’m just a diversion.”

As if on cue, the ground began to shake.


	4. Chapter 4

**_OMPHALOS - CADOGAN’S MANSION - NIGHT_ **

“What the hell is this?” Ash shouted as the floor continued to shake, not enough to make them lose their balance - not yet - but it wasn’t stopping.

Several figures Ash didn’t recognize materialized next to Octavia and Diyoza.

“Something’s wrong.” A woman in a lab coat said. “There’s been some sort of explosion at the keystone facility.”

“How serious is it?” Octavia asked, blood draining from her face. “How serious?”

“We don’t know yet. Firefighting teams are still on their way, but as you can feel, we’re all feeling it. The other worlds probably are too. It’s serious.”

“This was a diversion.” Octavia whispered. “You were right.”

“Why would Cadogan go for the keystone facility?” Gaia asked. “How does that help him?”

“It doesn’t help him, but it could cripple us.” Octavia looked at Diyoza. “If he severed the link…”

“The Anomaly has not changed its form.” Dr Warner said, appearing with a reassuring hand on Octavia’s shoulder. “Do not worry. Whatever he may have done to other keystones… the Anomaly survives, and passage between that world and this one is still possible.”

“Raven!” Ash called out. “What’s going on in Sanctum?”

Raven spun around in her chair in the Sanctum lab, her surroundings trembling as well, but not as intensely as the shaking in Omphalos. “We’re fine, but something definitely isn’t.”

“Can you reach Murphy?” Octavia asked. “I can’t reach him.”

“No, but the last I felt from him, Hope was taking him to the Anomaly to attune his tattoo.”

“If they did that, he could be unconscious right now.” Octavia said to herself. “Okay. Hope and Bellamy were both with him. He should be fine. Keep tabs on him, meanwhile if all of the doors here are open, we should get out of here while we still can.”

“You’re good to go. Get moving.”

Octavia led their way back out through the mirror maze, making it to the steps and dashing down into the tunnels, which were shaking even more intensely than upstairs, some cracks forming in the walls.

“We have to move fast!” Octavia yelled back at the others. “These tunnels might not survive whatever is happening.”

They made it through the tunnel without encountering the fear tech again - perhaps whatever the trigger for it was had been disabled by the earthquake - and made it outside, slamming the trapdoor shut behind them.

But the ground was still shaking.

“Gaia, you and Diyoza go to the safehouse and meet up with Niylah and Madi. Dr Warner, do you have eyes in the sky that can track any hostiles as Ash and I move towards the keystone facility?”

“We do.”

“Good. Does anyone have eyes on Cadogan?”

“Negative.” Dr Damo appeared in the clearing. “Last sighting of him was at 1800 this evening when he left from the front door of his mansion and went to the city centre, going to dinner at the restaurant Bia. He hasn’t emerged since, and we can’t get eyes inside, since the owners are known sympathizers of his.”

Octavia closed her eyes as she tried to focus, a din of voices rising in her mind as her connections from across the universe were reporting the same tremors as were hitting Sanctum.

 _Think._ She urged herself. _What am I missing?_

_Bia. The name of the restaurant._

“Of course.” Octavia said out loud. “In mythology, Bia was the personification of force and energy. She helped her brother Kratos bind Prometheus for all eternity so that he could be tormented by Zeus.”

Ash exchanged a look with Octavia. “Bellamy called you Prometheus. He told me about that on the Ring.”

Octavia nodded. “Cadogan’s taunting me, because while he knows that Bellamy called me Prometheus, Cadogan calls me Pandora. There must be a tunnel that connects to that restaurant. We know there are tunnels all over the city, but I’ve never mapped the full extent of them.”

“You think he used one of these tunnels to get to the keystone facility?” Diyoza asked.

“Like as not, and then vanished into another one after the job was done. Have any of us mapped all of the tunnels? Anyone?”

Councilman Lukin appeared next to Octavia. “We have reports of cave-ins all over the centre of town. If the perpetrator of the explosion at the keystone facility is using the tunnels, it is to their own detriment. I recommend you all stay clear of them as well.”

“All right. This doesn’t change anything for the time being besides making escape harder for him. Diyoza, Gaia, head back to the safehouse. Ash and I will make our way to the keystone facility.”

The group split, and Octavia and Ash made their way in the direction of the keystone facility, finding camouflage in the crowds that had emerged onto the streets as the shaking was finally beginning to subside.

“Raven, ground check?” Octavia asked.

“Shaking has stopped. Finally. I thought it was going to knock my teeth loose.”

“Murphy?”

“Nothing yet.”

“When he wakes up, tell him to tell Hope and Bellamy to wait. I don’t like what’s happening here.”

“What _is_ happening there?”

“An explosion at the keystone facility, but what it’s done, we don’t know yet. Just that it was felt across all of the worlds.”

“That’s probably not good.”

“It won’t be. But now we know why Cadogan’s mansion wasn’t as guarded as it could have been.”

“Octavia.” Ash hissed, motioning up ahead. “Is this trouble?”

Octavia looked to where Ash was pointing, a series of security teams cordoning off the road several blocks from the keystone facility.

“Doesn’t have to be. We just have to ask the right people. Follow my lead.”

The security team working on the far right end of the cordon had several of Octavia’s allies - not people who had taken her tech, but who supported her mission nonetheless.

With Ash shadowing her, watching for enemies, Octavia walked up to them, giving one of them a look. He jerked his head to the right, and Octavia and Ash followed him around the corner to where they could talk in private.

“What’s the situation?” Octavia asked.

“One of the keystone links was blown.” He said. “I’m sorry, Octavia.”

“It was Terra, wasn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so. Do you think it was him? Father William?”

“Do you know anyone else who has a vested interest in preventing access to Terra and only Terra?”

“No. Teams are still assessing how it was done, but right now they’re working blind - this has never happened before, in all of Omphalos’ history. All we know so far is that it was done from _this_ side - no one passed through to Terra.”

“So the keystone on the other side could still be intact?” Octavia asked.

“It is possible, yes. If that’s the case… perhaps it could be repaired. But we have no way of knowing that.”

“We do.” Octavia exchanged a look with Ash. “The same ship that brought us to Gaia can bring our people back to Terra. It’ll be a long road back, as it was a long way getting to Gaia, but we will get there.”

**_226 YEARS AGO BY TERRAN TIME_ **  
**_EARTH (TERRA) - SECOND DAWN BUNKER - EVENING_ **

Her brother had left without a word after she’d made her final statement to him. Some time later, a young woman came to the cell with a long white dress, which she handed to Becca.

“You are to wear this.”

“He’s killing me, isn’t he?”

The woman nodded, not making eye contact. “I’m sorry. But he says it is necessary to finish cleansing this world of the pain of the past, so that we can rise anew from the ashes.”

“I didn’t release that technology.” Becca said. “I created it, yes, but when I saw what it was capable of - I locked it away. I never wanted it to be released. _He_ released it. _He_ wanted the world to come to an end.”

“Why would he do such a thing?”

“To teach me a lesson about the dangers of technology.”

“Surely there are better ways to do that.”

“What’s your name?”

“Ophelia.”

“How did you come to follow my brother, Ophelia?”

“Your brother? Father Bill is your brother?”

“He is. Do you have a brother?”

Ophelia nodded, aghast. “An older brother who I love more than anyone else in this world. Why would your brother - why would he - why would he want to _kill_ you?”

“He doesn’t want you to know the truth. He wants to keep you reliant on him for everything when there is another way, Ophelia. I want you to know that.”

“What is this other way?”

“Have you seen a briefcase that they took from my landing pod?”

“I have. Father Bill sent it to the incinerator, but the workers there were afraid it was a bomb that would make the incinerator explode. They hid it away instead.”

“It’s not a bomb. It is something very special, a serum that will make you immune to the radiation, like I am. I need you to find it, Ophelia, and I need you to use it. As many people as you can give it to, the better.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please.” Becca begged her. “I… I know it is too late for me. My brother has made his choice. But I need you to save that serum, because it is the key to saving you. Either in this world or the next, if he takes you there.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There is another world, Ophelia. Another world where humanity still flourishes. My brother and I were born there, and then we came to this one. He may take you there after I’m dead, and if he does, you’ll know that everything I’m telling you now is true.”

“In a spaceship?”

“No, not a spaceship. A portal, a wormhole, whatever you want to call it. Buried far beneath this bunker. But before you go to that other world, you need to save that serum. The people in that other world will need it to be able to come here to rebuild this world. Please, Ophelia. Humanity needs you. Will you help save them?”

“I… I’ll think about it.”

“There’s one more thing. It might be gross and horrifying, but please, you have to do it. Or ask someone else to, if you can’t. Ask your brother, he loves you, right? He’ll do anything for you?”

“He will.”

“After I’m dead, you or your brother have to get access to my body. There’s technology in my mind that can help. If someone uses the serum and becomes resistant to radiation, then that technology can be put in their mind as well. Just right here.” Becca swept her hair aside to show Ophelia the scar on the back of her neck. “Tell people about the serum, but not about the technology, not yet. Hold onto it, keep it safe. You’ll know when the right time is to use it.”

“What if Father Bill calls me a witch too?”

“If there are enough of you, then he won’t be able to stop all of you. You can wait, years even, if you want. Wait until his power wanes. But you need to rescue these things - the serum and the tech - today. Then use them when the time is right. And here.” Becca pulled her notebook out of the Commander jumpsuit that she was still wearing, for some reason her brother hadn’t thought to search her. “This gives more information. Keep this safe. Please.”

Ophelia nodded her head quickly, eyes wide. “Yes, Commander.” She said, looking at the badge across the front of the jumpsuit.

“Just Becca. I’m just Becca.”

**_OMPHALOS - SAFEHOUSE - NIGHT_ **

Octavia and Ash regrouped with the others in the safehouse, filling them in on the information they’d learned at the keystone facility.

“There’s just one problem with cryosleep.” Octavia said. “For all of our people, and Sanctum’s, and the Children of Gabriel - there aren’t enough pods. People will have to stay awake.”

“Like Monty and Harper did.” Ash whispered, a note of sadness in her voice.

“No. We can rotate.” Raven said, appearing next to Ash and giving her a soft sad smile. “Depending on how many people there are and the number of spots, each person might only need to spend a decade or two out of cryo.”

“That’s fair.” Madi said. “It would be so weird to be the same age as Clarke for awhile. But also cool.”

Murphy appeared next to Raven, rubbing his forehead. “While another ice nap sure sounds thrilling, we’ve got a problem.”

“What is it, Murphy?” Octavia asked.

“Hope and Bellamy are gone.” Murphy said. “And I’ve got a killer headache because of it. Thanks, Bellamy.”

“What happened?” Raven demanded to know.

“We went to the Anomaly to attune my tattoo. Bellamy started getting antsy, so we tied him to a tree. But not strong enough, because as we were coming back out of it, he was running right for it. I tried to tackle him, but I must have passed out from that Anomaly thing right in the middle of that, because next thing I know, I’m waking up alone and I’ve got a bruise on my forehead that’s shaped like Bellamy’s boot.”

“If Bellamy went into the Anomaly, Hope must have gone after him.” Octavia said, moving towards the door. “She’d take him to the lab. We have to move.”

**_226 YEARS AGO BY TERRAN TIME_ **  
**_EARTH (TERRA) - SECOND DAWN RESEARCH CAMPUS - EVENING_ **

Two guards led Becca out of the bunker, chains heavy around her middle, weighing down the light dress she was wearing beneath them.

Becca had put her last hope in Ophelia. Whether the girl would do as she asked, any or all of it, she couldn’t know. But she had to hope. That hope was all she had left.

She heard the drumbeats sounding through the ruins, hidden behind the observers lining the path through the rubble. The path to her doom.

As she looked up, she saw the stake before her.

 _Of course, that’s what they’d expect would be done to witches._ Becca thought. _Witches, demons… burn them all._

She hoped ALIE 2.0 would survive it.

Her captors chained her to the stake, and as she looked out over the crowd, the figures in radiation suits, she saw her brother holding the torch.

Standing next to him, a smaller and slighter figure, who Bill handed the torch to. The figure stepped forwards and lit the pyre at Becca’s feet, before finally looking up to meet her eyes.

_Ophelia._

Despite ALIE 2.0 suggesting all sorts of theories, that Ophelia had to ingratiate herself with Bill to get the access she needed, that by being close to him she could hide what she was doing and a million other ideas besides, Becca only felt forsworn.

Panic set in, and all she could do was scream her last hopes at the whole crowd as the flames consumed her, hoping that someone, _anyone,_ would listen.

**_OMPHALOS - FOREST NEAR OCTAVIA’S LAB - DAWN_ **

The morning light was starting to dawn as they approached Octavia’s lab, all senses on alert, knowing that it was possible that Cadogan was aware of where they’d be.

“Octavia.” Gaia hissed. “Up ahead.”

Octavia squinted into the half-light as it filtered through the forest. They had just about reached the clearing, it was right up ahead where Gaia was pointing… _oh no._

Octavia felt like her heart stopped when she saw a body in the middle of the clearing, collapsed over the trapdoor.

A body she’d seen just hours earlier, only that time it hadn’t been real.

“No.” Octavia whispered, abandoning the group to run straight for Hope. “No no _no.”_

She dropped to the ground next to her, feeling for a pulse, hoping against hope that she’d find one.

“Hope!” Diyoza yelled with panic as she came into the clearing, falling to the ground beside Octavia. “Is she alive?”

Octavia nodded quickly, tears streaming down her face in relief as she found a pulse, stronger than she’d hoped. Taking a moment now, she didn’t see any visible injuries besides a bruise on her jaw and a long but healing cut on the palm of her hand.

“Come on, Hope.” Diyoza wept, pulling Hope’s upper body into her lap. “Wake up, please.”

“Please, _Hofi.”_ Octavia murmured, clutching Hope’s uninjured hand between both of hers. 

Dr Warner appeared next to them, taking in their surroundings. “I’m on my way with a medical team.”

“Thank you.” Octavia said. “Thank you.”

Hope began to stir, and everyone’s attention focused on her.

“Hope?” Diyoza asked hopefully. “Honey, can you hear me?”

“Mother. You’re safe.” Hope whispered, eyes still closed, her voice hoarse.

“I’m okay. We’re both okay. Octavia saved me.”

_“Ani…”_

“I’m here, _Hofi._ I’m here.”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too, _Hofi.”_

“We were ambushed…” Hope said faintly, struggling to open her eyes as she sat up in her mother’s arms. “Father William and his people. They were… they were… waiting for us. I’m sorry… he said he didn’t need me anymore…” 

As Hope finally got her eyes open, looking around at the assembled group and seeing who was and wasn’t there, she spoke the words that sent Octavia’s heart plummeting once more.

“They took Bellamy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming in **two** weeks (March 24)...
> 
> _**7x09 The Soul of the Madman Blake** \- Taken by Cadogan and imprisoned deep within his own mind, Bellamy is forced to confront his past with his sister for once and for all. Then as he faces off against the man responsible for all of the circumstances of their existence, Bellamy must make the final choice - will he make history repeat itself, or will he break the cycle?_
> 
> Be sure to subscribe to the series (OsleyaKomWonkru's Season 7 of The 100) so that you get updates for the whole season and not just the individual episodes!


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